5 Ways to Tell If You’re a Crappy Gift Giver

1) YOU’LL ONLY BUY A GIFT IF IT’S ON SALE

More than anything you’re focused on the bottom dollar. You’re not willing to spend very much money on anyone – not even your best friend or your own mother. So you buy only items that are on sale. When you see a 50% OFF sign or a bright red CLEARANCE sign, you immediately think, “Who on my Christmas shopping list can I buy for?” You think it’s heaven when you like something in a store and it’s BOGO (Buy One Get One) free. One for you and one for someone on your Christmas shopping list. Who cares if the person doesn’t have the same taste as you? It was BOGO!

Gift Giving Advice: The point of a gift is to show appreciation and to let someone know you’re thankful to have them in your life. By being stingy, your main focus becomes the price of the gift and not the gift itself. If you have a small budget, there are many wonderful gifts that don’t require you spending a lot of money. You can find many of them right here at www.SunburstGifts.org.

2) YOU ONLY GIVE THE THINGS YOU LIKE

You think you have the best taste in food, clothing, jewelry, home decor – you name it. So to you it makes sense that if you like something, someone else will like it too. At least they should like it. You know what’s best after all. If a friend or family member requests a specific item but you don’t like it, you think “There’s no way in hell I’ll buy that ___ thing.” You often fill the blank with words like ugly, stupid or tacky.

Gift Giving Advice: Four words – It’s not about you. While it’s natural to want to give an item that you like or enjoy, it’s never appropriate to do so when you know the item isn’t wanted by the gift recipient. A gift should always make the gift recipient happy, even if it doesn’t make you happy.

3) REGIFTING BECOMES YOUR FIRST PRIORITY

You never think, “I wonder what gift Liz would like this year?” For first move when it comes to finding someone a gift is to look through your closets for items you can regift. There’s that journal your mom gave you that you’ve never used. There’s that scarf you bought for yourself and never wore. You decide to give both items to Liz for her birthday. It doesn’t matter that Liz hates to write and never wears scarves because they itch her neck. Oh, well. At least you got her something and that’s all that matters.

Gift Giving Advice: Regifting only becomes okay in very specific circumstances. You must follow the rules of regifting. First, the item you want to regift has to be new. Second, the item HAS to be something the gift recipient would truly want. If they wouldn’t truly want it, you’re just being cheap and unthoughtful. Third, you’re 100% sure the person who gave you the original gift will never find out you regifted his or her present.

4) YOU WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE

You pick out the majority of your gifts on the day you’re supposed to give it, sometimes on the way to the party. On many occasions you’ve run inside a store and purchased the first thing that catches your eye. As a result, most of your gifts are lame. You make yourself feel better about your last-minute shopping by thinking, “They can always return it if they don’t like it.”

Gift Giving Advice:People can usually tell when someone didn’t put much thought into selecting their gift. By waiting until the last minute to come up with a gift, you risk hurting the feelings of someone you care about. Give yourself time to brainstorm the perfect gift. The more thought you put into a gift, the better it will convey how much you care which is what gift-giving is all about.

5) YOU ALWAYS KEEP SCORE

Each time you trade gifts with someone, you compare how much you spent with what you received. If you spent more money or more time, you make a mental note to spend less money or time on their gift next year. You do this with everyone. You also never give someone a gift unless they’ve given you a gift first.

Gift Giving Advice:Keeping score is never healthy for relationships. Someone might have purchased you a less expensive gift not because they care less about you but because they’re experiencing a financial hardship. Or it could be that the $25 someone spent on you was for them a bigger sacrifice than the $100 you spent on them. With that in mind, give gifts out of the goodness of your heart and accept gifts with a joyful heart.